Format a 14TB Hard Disk to MBR or GPT, How to Choose?

Hi all, when I put my new Ironwolf 14TB drive into my win10, it asks me to initialize it to GPT or MBR. This drive will store my data backups. Which one should I choose?

MBR and GPT are two different types of partitioning schemes. If you are using a new HDD for the first time, you will need to initialize it before using it properly. For a 14TB HDD, you should choose the GPT format. Otherwise, you will only get a 2.2TB drive containing much unusable space. The MBR format is more suitable for HDDs with less than 2TB capacity.

Further Reading: MBR VS GPT | What's the Difference and Which Is Better

After choosing a partition scheme, you should select NTFS as the file system format for your new drive - NTFS is the most popular file system on Windows.

After the selection, you can use a quick software solution to complete the initialization and formatting. EaseUS Partition Master Free is well worth trying as an all-in-one disk management tool. This tool will allow you to become an expert in managing your disks and computer.

Here are the exact steps to initialize a 14TB hard drive.

Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master and go to Partition Manager.

Step 2. Right-click on the target disk and select "Initialize to GPT."

Step 3. Click on "Execute Task" and "Apply."

After initialization, you will have unallocated space, and you can create partitions on it and select the file system format you need. EaseUS Partition Master will help you to do it in the whole process.

Step 1. right-click on the unallocated space and click on "Create."

Step 2. In the advanced settings, select partition size, file system, partition label, etc. And click "OK."

Step 3. Select "Execute 1 Task" and "Apply" to finish creating the partition using the unallocated space on the disk and setting the file system format.